Okay....I hate my birthday. It's a time each year that I look back over the previous year of my existence and take stock of where I am as compared to where I'd like to be and where I REALISTICALLY should be. (Those are two very different things...I've always had some lofty goals...lol) This inevitably depresses me. Upon looking at the past year over several categories...this is what I've come up with:

Career/Finances:

Where I am: I'm currently a claims adjuster at St. Paul Travelers in Buffalo. I make a decent enough salary to maintain my 2 bedroom duplex in S. Buffalo, my car, my hobbies, and modest fun expenditures.

Where I should be REALISTICALLY: I think this is about right...realistically in the career path I've chosen (and with the current degree I have), my career is progressing along decently. Would I love a raise? Sure...who wouldn't...I don't know many people who think they are either fairly or overly compensated for the duties they perform. All in all...I can't complain TOO much...but it definately isn't approaching my dreams..lol.


Physical Health/Overall Physical:

Where I am: Hmmm...I'm me. *laugh* 6'5", 218 lbs. That gives me a BMI of 25.8...according to those crazy physicians. (a "normal"
weight BMI is between 18 and 25) That makes me JUST BARELY overweight. I eat properly, exercise regularly (thank you rugby), and try to take care of myself.

Where I should be REALISTICALLY: This is one area I'm proud of...a year ago I was 245 lbs. (BMI = 29 or high end overweight..almost "obese"). I lead a far healthier lifestyle...I run, play rugby...generally feel like I'm fitter and quite easy on the eyes if I do say so myself. *laugh*

Social Life/Relationships:

Where I am: Well..on the friends side of the equation everything is great. I've got a fairly large circle of friends and several that I'm close with. I've got an entire TEAM full of friends. I'm just lousy with friends...*laugh*. The real kicker is on the love/relationship side of the equation. That's where I'm lost. I don't know what is going on there...there are things I'd like to see "work". There is someone who I think I could really get to know and care about but the situation seems so far from ideal...what do you do? I find it's a constant battle between the selfish portion of me and the selfless portion. Do I step back from the situation and let everything run it's course without interference or do I intervene on my own behalf to try "fight for" something? I don't know....craziness. Uncertainty kills me...I prefer to live in a certain world...to deal with problems/uncertainties as they arise, to be able to resolve them so that they stop being problems and go back to being "certainties". Time will tell....

Where I should be REALISTICALLY: No idea....*laugh*

There's more...I'm sure I could go on...but I've at least gotten some of it off my chest and things seem a tad brighter. I'm sure everything will work out "the way it is supposed to"...I just want to know what that way is...and I'm having trouble getting some sort of indication as to what that is exactly.

Okay...so as some of you may or may not know, I'm a bit of a geek. Okay...so really I'm a big geek. Some of you also may know that I took five years of Latin. But what most people don't know is that I still work on translations to this day....for fun. Yes, translating from Latin to English for fun. And it really can be. To take something that is already "perfect" in the original language, to then "break" it into a literal translation, and then to "refine/reperfect" it into the new language. At least I've found that to be the most productive way of translating from a classical language. (Not like translating from Spanish etc, where you can be very literal and only substitute for colloquialisms) The hardest part is trying to maintain both flow/feel while also preserving meaning. It's that "art" of translation that really draws me to it.

So then..without further ado...a quick little translation I've spent a little time on lately:

vitam quae faciunt beatiorem,
iucundissime Martialis, haec sunt:
res non parte labore sed relicta;
non ingratus ager, focus perennis;
lis numquam, toga rara, mens quieta;
vires ingenuae, salubre corpus;
prudens simplicitas, pares amici;
convictus facilis, sine arte mensa;
nox non ebria sed soluta curis;
non tristis torus et tamen pudicus;
somnus qui faciat brevis tenebrus;
quod sis esse velis nihilque malis;
summum nec metuas diem nec optes.
-M. Valerius Martialis, Epigrams X, 47

The things which make for a happy life, my dearest son, are these:
property not earned but inherited;
fruitful land, a hearth where there is always a flame;
a life free from litigation, few official duties, and an untroubled mind;
a hearty constitution, a healthy body;
strong character, friends who are you equals;
good company, plain meals;
nights not spent drunk, yet free from cares;
a good love-life, but one that is also virtuous;
do not seek to be anyone but who you are;
and to neither fear, nor wish for, death.


There you have it...a little sage advice from Martial. The translation still isn't perfect, and there are a few things I'd like to tweak...but overall, I don't think it's half-bad.

So I was reading through several journals and find myself with new or concurrent ideas on some of the key issues they've touched on. This is a good thing because I find myself unable to articulate exactly what is causing me so much distress lately. I often have an inability to find the root of things which are getting me down and really work to solve them. (Which is odd, because I can usually cut right to the quick when I'm helping someone ELSE with their problems......)

The first journal that really got me thinking is (e:Flacidness). I can completely relate to having a hellish "family" life. I haven't spoken to my mother since Christmas. I haven't really spoken to my siblings since probably Thanksgiving. And my father...well...I haven't heard from him since my high school graduation back in '97. This hasn't really bothered me...I have assembled a new "family" out of my friends. Great...I understand and accept this. However...why does it seem that other people I meet in my professional and personal life don't understand why I don't contact my family? Why does this constitute a character flaw on my part and NOT on the part of my family? I'm lost....I dunno. It seems even if your family treated you like crap you're obligated to pretend that life is all roses and hearts and small fluffy animals. Anyway....

The other journal that really got to me was (e:Byllc). Wow...talk about an unexpected kick in the chest. The simple premise was, "When was the last time you were really and genuinely excited?". I took this to mean the downright elated to be alive, birds-are-singing, choir of angels type of excited. The type of excited you got all the time as a kid, when everything was new...when everything was earth-shattering. The type of excited I got before/during the first time I had sex (sorry about all that excitement Miranda....wherever you are....haha), the type of excitement I felt when I got my acceptance letters for university, the type of excitement I felt in huddle before the first play of my first game of football in college. The last time I was ever THAT excited.....was when I proposed to my ex-fiancee. And it was at that realization that three things immediately happened; 1) I realized how much I'd changed in the past 3.5-4 years, 2) I became angry that someone who would eventually hurt me so incredibly badly would "hold" that position in my life, and 3) I became really really confused. You see, over the past few years (I'd say the last year especially), I decided that I definately didn't want children and probably didn't really ever want to get married either. That's not to say that I don't want serious or deep relationships...just that I don't see the benefits to having a binding contract with a member of the opposite sex. Great...then why hasn't there been any sort of excitement like that in my life since? By steering clear of marriage as a whole, am I then denying myself access to this level of excitement ever again?

And now..well..now I'm just depressed. I realize that I've only really ever truly and deeply loved three people in my entire life. And that I haven't had that feeling in quite some time now. And how much I miss that feeling of being able to tell someone anything and everything and have them really and truly care about what I'm telling them. And how I miss waking up next to someone...and not being alone. The feeling of security and understanding...I even miss the fights sometimes. (You just can't have a good fight with someone you don't love/care about enough to put the effort in.....lol). And what's almost worse is that, looking back on things, I don't have any idea as to how to find that again. It feels like those three wonderful experiences in my life just fell in my lap...I don't know how I'd obtain that again. They all happened in very different ways...and they all seem so random now. And how in retrospect I definately didn't cherish those times the way I should have, I took them for granted. I miss it and I want it again.......but I definately feel like I'm "all dressed up with nowhere to go", so to speak.

Well...there's always tomorrow, right?

Okay...so I just found out WHY one should never talk to ex's.

Little background...I keep AIM open all day at work...talking to friends helps to pass the time of course. Now, I do occassionally try to be a good guy and keep in touch with a few ex's who are interesting for whatever reason. This ex...let's call her "Miss S." for anyonymity's sake...is a girl who I dated in college. She's a very Portuguese catholic girl (as in, here family is straight off the boat from the Azores) from MA. She also is the first girl who ever broke MY heart. (I had left a long trail of tears before that..but she had the gall to cheat on me...anyway..). I've only really kept in touch with her because her life has become even more of a train wreck/soap opera than mine. (A brief listing; she got chlamydia from the guy she cheated on me with [served her right], her nephew passed away, her mother and grandmother passed away the same year, she has gone through wild weight swings, severe depression, etc) However, the lastest news from her I think quite possibly takes the cake....the following is a brief overview of our IM conversation today:

Me: Hey you, what's going on?! I haven't talked to you in ages...
Ex: Not much, how about you?
Me: The usual...work, rugby, life...so anything new?
Ex: Yeah, I moved to Melrose...with that Dom who I told you about before...with his wife and twins...

Now then..here is where I need to start the 'splainin'. Miss S. has a definate thing for D/s relationships. Okay, great, that can be fun..little kink never hurt anyone. Now the last time Miss S. and I spoke was several months ago when she was having an affair with a married gentleman. I asked if that was wise and apparently she thought it was...she even said he'd asked her to move into the in-law apartment he has next door. I thought that was a bad idea...she thought that was a bad idea...enough said. End of history, back to the action.

Me: WOW....when did that happen?
Ex: Oh, a couple of months ago
Me: Everything okay?
Ex: Yeah, I'm busy everyday with his wife and twin sons, cleaning, cooking taking care of the kids, etc.
Me: Wait...so this is kind of "mormon-esque"?
Ex: LOL...well...kinda sorta
Ex: Well, I have to go work, I'll talk to you later
Me: Talk to you later...hasta...

Okay....so...that perhaps goes down as the single weirdest conversation I've ever had. And I'm a pretty liberal guy...pretty understanding of differences...pretty open. But that..well...that goes a tad beyond where I'm at right now. I think what bothers me the most is the children in the situation. I mean...sure...Miss S. has been boffing their dad for a few months now, but at this point, she's acting as a second mother. And I know Miss S.....she hasn't been the most stable individual over the past 5 or 10 years. What happens when Miss S decides to bail and these kids lose one of their "parents"?

I dunno...is it just me...or does this seem fairly crazy?